Travel Israel on a Budget

Hiking in the Eilat Mountains to Beautiful En Netafim

On the last day of the Passover holiday, my family and I drove up to the
Eilat Mountains to try one of the many hiking trails, which we haven’t tried
yet. We chose to hike the circular trail to En Netafim, which partly
overlaps the Israel National Trail. It’s a 3.5-km trail, that takes you down
to the small and beautiful Netafim Spring, called En Netafim in Hebrew
(“En” means “Spring”), and then back up to the starting
point. I really loved the view of the desert around us and am not surprised
that part of this trail was combined in the Israel National Trail. The hike
takes about 2 hours and includes some descends and ascends which are a bit
challenging, especially for those who are afraid of heights.

Before I start telling you about the trail itself, let’s go over safety
instructions and general notes:

* The hike is under your own responsibility, so please be
careful, especially when you are standing next to the cliff that’s along the
trail.

* Make sure you hike with good hiking shoes, have at least 2 liters
of water and wear a hat. It is recommended to also pack snacks if you want to
stop somewhere, BUT make sure to bring a garbage bag as well and take your garbage
with you.

* During the rainy season, check for flood hazards after every rainfall.
If there is a flood hazard, do not hike in the mountains area. Also, do not attempt
to hike this trail right after rainfalls, as it can be slippery.

* The water in the spring basin is not good for drinking or bathing.

* This trail involves many climbs and descends, so if you are not fit
for this kind of hiking, don’t attempt to hike the trail.

* Those afraid of heights might get afraid at some points along the
hike.

* The phone signal is bad in the mountains area and sometimes
non-existent. Though, I was able to get a phone signal down at the spring.

* Do not camp next to the spring. Camp only in designated areas
(Mount Yehoram Camping Site). If you camp next to the spring, this might
frighten the animals in the area and prevent them from getting to the water at
their time of need.

Before the Hike – A Bit About En Netafim:

En Netafim is a special point in the Eilat Mountains, as it is the
only spring in the area, which flows all year round. Many desert animals
stop by the spring to drink and refresh themselves during the early morning and
twilight hours.

In 1906, when the British and the Ottomans decided where the border line
will pass between their two empires, the British insisted that the spring will
be in their territory. That border line from 1906 eventually became the border
line between Israel and Egypt, and En Netafim stayed in our territory, as
Israel is based on the British mandate territory.

How to Get to the Head of the Trail?

The easiest way to get to the head of the trail is by car. We used our
car to get to the trail and parked next to its head. But if you don’t have a
car or don’t have enough budget for renting one, you can get on Egged bus
number 392 from Eilat Central Bus Station and get off at the forth stop, called
“Ma’avar Netafim”(מעבר נטפים). It should take
about 15 minutes by bus. Make sure to tell the driver you want to get off at
this station. Keep in mind that the bus does not operate on Fridays and
Saturdays (there’s no public transportation on
Shabbat). From this station, you can walk south along road number 12 for about
1.5 km – about 20 minutes – until you reach the trail end. It should be to your
left and there should be a road sign pointing towards it, saying “En
Netafim” (עין
נטפים).

The way from Ma’avar Netafim (Netafim Passage) to the trail as shown by Google MapsStanding at the head of the trail, looking back at Mount Yoash

The Hike:

The trail begins opposite of Mount Yoash (1) as a wide dirt road, that descends down towards Wadi Netafim. Every trail in Israel is marked by a specific color. This part of the trail is marked by the black color and also by the orange-blue-white mark, which is the color combination of the Israel National Trail.

The beginning of the trail…

We continued along this trail for about 1 km until we got to a big sign, warning about the cliff up ahead and prohibiting the lighting of fire in the area. A few steps ahead there’s a crossroad of trails (2). We continued straight on the green marked trail, which is also part of the Israel National Trail.

The sign before the crossroadThe crossroad

We continued a few steps along this trail and thengot to the
cliff’s edge (3), where a horizonal bar is blocking the wrong way down
the cliff. There are two narrow descends here that require using some step
bars,which have been installed into the rocks. We climbed down
carefully through the narrow opening, passed one descend and continued right
away to the second, which is actually a pile of stone boulders, which have
collapsed from the cliff and created a convenient way down the cliff.

Climbing down the cliff through the narrow opening…

After the descend, we continued on the green marked trail until
reaching a shady spot (4), where we stopped to drink water. My father
looked at his map, looked around and said: “This is supposed to be the
place of the spring.” Then he pointed at a wet spot on the ground and
said: “Well, this is the spring. It’s supposed to be small.” I said:
“It can’t be. Do you really think any animal can drink from this tiny spot
of water?” “Maybe it’s dried up,” he shrugged and then pointed
at the green foliage at the base of the cliff: “Look, it’s enough for the
plants.” I saw an opening in the cliff, right where the foliage was
situated. “Maybe the spring is inside the opening?” I suggested and
started climbing up to the base of the cliff. A few steps up and I already spotted
the artificial basin, which was created here by the British in the 1930s to
keep the water of the spring and repaired by the Eilat Field School staff in
1968. The animals which live in the area, amongst them the ibexes, come to
the basin to drink water. Though, for us, the water is not good for drinking.
In the 1980s, the spring’s water turned suddenly very salty. It’s also not good
for bathing. The source of the water in the basin is from the En Netafim
spring, which emerges as little drops of water from the rocks of the cliff.
“Netafim” in Hebrew means “drops”.

Where’s En Netafim?!Here it is!

Happy we’ve found the spring, we continued on our way along the green marked trail until we got to another crossroad of trails (5). The green marked trail continues from this point straight, but we took the red marked trail,which turns right, back in the direction of the starting point. The red marked trail ascends upwards. There’s also a point where you need to climb up using a few bar steps, which were installed into the wall.

The climb up

After finishing the climb, we continued on the red marked trail until we reached another crossroad of trails (6). Here, the red marked trail meets the black marked trail. You can either turn right or left on the black marked trail. If you turn right, you arrive back at the same spot where you descend down to the spring. We decided to take the longer and other way back and turned left. The sign at the crossroad indicates that left leads to Mt. Yehoram.

Another crossroad…

The black marked trail continues along a quite wide dirt trail, that is
very exposed to the sun. To the right, you’ll see part of Wadi Netafim, which
is almost always dry but still quite beautiful. After a while, the trail
begins to ascend towards the top of a saddle (7). The ascend is quite steep,
but goes on for only about 300 meters. At the top of the saddle, the wind is
very mighty. We took a few minutes to rest at the top and then continued
downwards. The descend is also quite steep, so we walked down step by step.

The view from the top of the saddle

We continued on the black marked trail, which continues on a rather flat
surface, until we got to the Mount Yehoram Camping Site (8). From there,
we took the dirt road that turns right and walked along it until we reached road
number 12 after about 200 meters (9). We crossed to the other side of the road and
continued right in the direction of the trail head, where we left our car. We
continued along the road for about 600 meters until we reached the point where
we started.

The meeting with road number 12

It was a very nice trail, with beautiful landscapes and some nice
climbs. We were sorry it didn’t last a bit longer!

Optional Additions:

Hiking in the Eilat Mountains from Mount Yoash to Mount Zefachot. Instead of using public transportation back to the city, you can take hike the last segment of the Israel National Trail, from Mount Yoash to Mount Zefachot. Since it’s a long hike, I’d recommend you spend the night at the Mount Yehoram Camping Site and then wake up early and begin the trail.

You can also continue along the Israel National Trail towards the north.

How much time does the trail take? About 2-3 hours.

Difficulty: Mid to high level of difficulty due to the steep
descends and ascends, which sometimes require climbing.

It is a 3.5-km circular trail with some steep descends and ascends
along the way.

When is the best time to hike? Spring (March to May) or Autumn
(October to December), when temperatures are mild.